"Yes, if you make a mistake on it, it is very anticlimactic and disappointing and it became a test of mental toughness," Chan told the press. "I used to say that it was not necessary, but now that I have experience from both sides, I better understand what the others have been saying before. I do not care how many points it is worth, it is just so great to do it. It's a blast! The build up to the jump, the intensity... and if you succeed you feel so great. I think Nobunari sees it this way too."

I think this is where it was from but maybe I got his statement and a statement about what he said confused. oops if that was the case.

From the same linked article:

"It was great," said Chan at the press conference. "I am very happy and proud that I stayed on my feet. "For me it does not happen often, especially this season," he joked. "I worked a lot on my focus and I was able to skate well, so I am proud of myself."

If the link doesn't work, it is Beverly Smith's article entitled "Chan Ready to Showcase his Quadruple Jump" from the October 28, 2010 edition of the Globe and Mail.

Now, Chan thinks it's "kind of weird" when a skater doesn't put a quad in his short program even though he's known for doing them. He said he was shocked that world champion Daisuke Takahashi won the NHK Trophy event last week without a quad, and he's been doing quads longer than Chan has been doing triple Axels.

1. I recognize that the only words directly attributable to Chan are "kind of wierd" and consequently, it's easy to manipulate and misread.

2. However, contextually, I have no qualms believing that Chan's comments are close enough to the reporter's spin (which is designed to make Chan look super-duper-awesome, admittedly). Chan, and this is something I've noticed since the 07/08 season, tends to speak off-the-cuff; devoid of media mannerisms. On the one hand, it provides a refreshingly honest look at a person in a field where shallow euphemisms and evasions are de rigeur. But just because I admire the honesty doesn't mean I don't fault the viewpoint.

3. When it was Joubert, I was sorta all right with it. Joubert because I was frustrated with his WC 2008 comments. With Plushenko, it demonstrated a viewpoint that rather bugged me - remember, at this point Chan had WD from CoR due to injury, so we hadn't actually seen him. What we saw at Liberty was typically disastrous (he's really bad early in the season). But all we needed Chan to do was leave it on the ice. Don't talk about it - show it. With Takahashi, that same feeling was present, only moreso. Again, this was before SC, which featured a terrible short and a mediocre long (yeah, it was scored well, but most of the jumps were ugly and the whole thing was rushed). I just wanted him to skate.

4. But moreso... as you've stated, Chan's viewed Takahashi has his main competitor. His comments at Nationals corroborate this (“But I just looked at it as if I was at worlds, and Daisuke was going to skate after me.”) and it's always seemed more than lip service, in my mind. But... given Takahashi's own stated viewpoint (that he feels he's not the skater he was post-surgery, and won't consider himself at that level until he can land the quad consistently) and his actions (going for the quad at the Olympics despite it arguably hurting his chances, trying the quad flip throughout the past season), it almost seems like passive-aggressive needling. You can argue that's part of the game and I can't really disagree, but I'd rather not see it.

5. In short, it was inferred that Patrick said "I can't believe he didn't go for the quad in the short." Then went for the quad in the short and fell. If you criticize others for something, you make damn sure you do it right.

I could not even remember that article and had no idea where to look so good for finding it! I just remembered the general idea of what he said. 2009 CoR was brought up and I wish Chan had been there! It could have been so good if he was well and was able to give Plushenko a run for his money. But now there clashing philosophies of the past can never be tested against each other as chan is now quad central.

I find with Chan, there is no need to interpret and extrapolate what he says. The dude is always so straight forward which is what gets him into trouble even though he is completely guileless. Most people have filters and can't help putting a personal interpretation or spin on others' utterences and they are often right. Knowing Chan to be a straight shooter, I still made a mistake once, thinking he was unconvinced at the call and complaining when he said he discovered he could under-rotate a quad though he had never done it in practice. From his later interviews, e.g. the press conference video I linked above, I realized he meant exactly what he said and has been working to not repeat the mistake.

I have no idea exactly what and how he said as reported by B. Smith, which is

Now, Chan thinks it's "kind of weird" when a skater doesn't put a quad in his short program even though he's known for doing them. He said he was shocked that world champion Daisuke Takahashi won the NHK Trophy event last week without a quad, and he's been doing quads longer than Chan has been doing triple Axels.

but if it were exactly as she wrote, I can see Patrick saying it without meaning anything more. As he explained in the video, doing a quad is such a thrill that those who do it will understand, and that, while he still believes it's possible to win without a quad, it's advantageous to put it in a program if you can do it. So he didn't understand why Takahashi didn't do it. I don't take it as a criticism and if, as you wrote, he said it and then couldn't deliver, then he learned from his own experience the difficulty of doing it in a competition. To his credit, he never gave up and consulted the right person for the mental solution. Boitano's wisdom has evidently been invaluable as Chan acknowledges frequently but I am glad that for once he is keeping something, i.e. Boitano's advice, to himself, though I've guessed at a couple of the tips from his interviews. Pretending his biggest rival was still to skate was a mental game to prepare himself for the debut of the very ambitious upgraded program and it worked. The Nationals was his practice for Worlds, the only one with the new program, so it's natural to mentally treat it as Worlds.

Chan speaks with little filter and is incapable of passive agressiveness. If you need to exercise your brain to arrive at his being sarcastic, then forget it. He is quick to credit his mentors and name his idols, including Plushenko (at least pre-Olympic and always for his quads), and his criticism of Joubert was pretty straight forward. Note his issue with Joubert in 2009 was on Buttle's behalf. He didn't whine about subsequent underscoring of his own SP which might have cost him the World Champion title. Patrick Chan is my favorite subject for mind study because of his complete forthrightness.

One thing I admire about him is that he doesn't whine, complain, and offer excuses. His response to criticism is to up his ante and bring it. He was right you didn't need a quad to win. The quad camp then lobbied to raise the quad values, reduce penalties for falls, and to cut Chan's specialty, the step sequence, down so it's worth measly 2 points. So Chan became the best quad jumper while keeping his footwork. Meanwhile the old quadsters falter. So now all the rage is about falls needing to be severely punished. I say on Patrick's behalf, "Bring it on!" We will see who will suffer from such change if instituted. I will bet you it wouldn't be Mr. Chan.

One thing I admire about him is that he doesn't whine, complain, and offer excuses. His response to criticism is to up his ante and bring it. He was right you didn't need a quad to win. The quad camp then lobbied to raise the quad values, reduce penalties for falls, and to cut Chan's specialty, the step sequence, down so it's worth measly 2 points. So Chan became the best quad jumper while keeping his footwork. Meanwhile the old quadsters falter. So now all the rage is about falls needing to be severely punished. I say on Patrick's behalf, "Bring it on!" We will see who will suffer from such change if instituted. I will bet you it wouldn't be Mr. Chan.

Is that so? It's quite hilarious considering the current situation. At least the skaters generally didn't cry foul when Patrick benefited from the changes.

Is that so? It's quite hilarious considering the current situation. At least the skaters generally didn't cry foul when Patrick benefited from the changes.

He was not supposed to benefit from the changes. Quite the opposite. But a winner adapts and brings it under any stipulated conditions. Change the rules of the game, Chan will still find a way to win, instead of complaining and needing his federation to lobby for more favorable rules.

From the beginning of the season, Chan and his team had the larger vision and plan. After the Olympics, at early season minor events, it was the best time to practise new quads in competitions, even if old penalties applied. The new rules, with his complete set of skills, made the results better than, I believe, they were willing to risk.

Oh, lets be clear - I'm quite annoyed at the changes made to the second step sequence and think the benefits outweight the demerits. I definitely saw that as a move against skaters like Chan/Lysacek, who did level four footwork without the quad (along with all the changes). That stated, I think that falls should be punished more. That isn't against Chan (who's one of my faves), but because of what I want competitive figure skating to be.

ETA: Your second comment strikes a chord. Who do you think is needling their federation for more favourable rule changes?

ETA: Your second comment strikes a chord. Who do you think is needling their federation for more favourable rule changes?

Joubert fans were very very loud about quads being under valued and there was a petition for specific changes with a great number of signatures, which I also saw in Japanese though essentially by Joubert fans. It was quite a campaign. Last summer saw a lot of lobbying and politicking in the ISU. The Japanese Federation also got the so called "Asada rule" re 3A instituted without discussion.

Oh, lets be clear - I'm quite annoyed at the changes made to the second step sequence and think the benefits outweight the demerits. I definitely saw that as a move against skaters like Chan/Lysacek, who did level four footwork without the quad (along with all the changes).

I think that's really overly cynical. After years and years of skaters, coaches, and fans complaining that the number of required elements in both programs didn't leave time for much artistry or creativity, the ISU reduced them across the board, for ladies and men. If we buy into your conspiracy theory about this, who exactly benefitted from the removal of the spiral sequences for ladies? Everyone complained about how all the skaters did the exact same thing to get a Level 4, but that invalidates your point: almost every female skater in contention for medals could easily achieve L4, and both Yuna and Mao were getting good +GOE for theirs, albeit for different reasons. Along with the changes to spins, which require more diversity of positions, it seems really unfair to take it at anything other than face value: most of the rules for this season were designed to promote more varied programs, with more "breathing room" for the skaters to add personal touches. And, you know, I think it's worked pretty well.

If you want to talk about rule changes that really were aimed at a particular skater, the "Mao Asada rules" fit the bill a lot more than the choreo step sequence. I happen to agree with the Mao Rules, personally, because they're a move in the direction of fairness and will be good for the sport in the future, but it's pretty clear they were designed with her in mind.

Joubert fans were very very loud about quads being under valued and there was a petition for specific changes with a great number of signatures, which I also saw in Japanese though essentially by Joubert fans. It was quite a campaign. Last summer saw a lot of lobbying and politicking in the ISU. The Japanese Federation also got the so called "Asada rule" re 3A instituted without discussion.

Then both Joubert and Asada bombed this season.

Did either Joubert or Asada directlyneedle their federation for favourable rule changes?

Their fans may have, but there's a difference between the skaters themselves and their fans.

^^^^ I didn't implicate the two skaters of taking any action of their own. If they did, I wouldn't have known it. Just facts observed.

I also defended Mao about her early results and predicted her eventual success.

You may not have implicated any skater specifically, but this: "Chan will still find a way to win, instead of complaining and needing his federation to lobby for more favorable rules. " implies there are skaters who cannot find a way to win and as such needle.

Originally Posted by doubleflutz

I think that's really overly cynical. After years and years of skaters, coaches, and fans complaining that the number of required elements in both programs didn't leave time for much artistry or creativity, the ISU reduced them across the board, for ladies and men. If we buy into your conspiracy theory about this, who exactly benefitted from the removal of the spiral sequences for ladies? Everyone complained about how all the skaters did the exact same thing to get a Level 4, but that invalidates your point: almost every female skater in contention for medals could easily achieve L4, and both Yuna and Mao were getting good +GOE for theirs, albeit for different reasons. Along with the changes to spins, which require more diversity of positions, it seems really unfair to take it at anything other than face value: most of the rules for this season were designed to promote more varied programs, with more "breathing room" for the skaters to add personal touches. And, you know, I think it's worked pretty well.

In context: the quad values were raised. The penalty for falling on quads was lowered by nearly two points. New rules regarding under-rotations were insituted. Given that one of the main methods the non-quad skaters were using to rack up the points was via their high difficulty steps, taking that away, with all the other moves, clearly was a statement against non-quad skating.

You may not have implicated any skater specifically, but this: "Chan will still find a way to win, instead of complaining and needing his federation to lobby for more favorable rules. " implies there are skaters who cannot find a way to win and as such needle.

I didn't say anybody "needles". I said "need". I should clarify the need may be seen by helpful fans and federations, and not necessarily the skaters blaming their disappointments on others. It is a fact the quad squad was quite vocal the last couple of years. This season, there have not been complaints about scoring form skaters, except Weir who is still going on about the Olympics. Fans, OTOH, well, you know.........